On my radar ...

• Legacy of the London 2012 Games. Generation Inspired?a report launched yesterday by Whizz-Kidz includes five recommendations from young disabled people on how to improve public services, sport and role models.

This is the amount some of my constituents will be left with to feed themselves in April. I expected to find that it was difficult and unsatisfying to live on this budget. What I didn't realise is just how unhealthy it would be too ...

Some nights I woke up at 2am hungry. I worked out by the end of the week that I had on average been eating 400 calories a day less than normal. So it is no surprise that by the afternoon on day four I felt I had no energy to do anything at all. If you're on JSA and you're looking for work you need energy. If we want the unemployed to find jobs we need to make sure we are giving them enough money to feed themselves.

Carers UK has tweeted:

FACT CHECK: the Government's £25 million fund for disabled people hit by the #bedroomtax would protect less than 40k of the 420k affected

In some areas it is a challenge to find any candidates at all, let only any from under-represented sections of society. If councillors are to be unpaid volunteers, the pool is going to be even smaller. It is clear that remuneration, along with time commitment and the attitude of employers, is one of the key barriers preventing people standing for election. People are put off becoming councillors because the money does not adequately compensate them for the work involved, and in the case of councillors in employment they may lose more from taking time off work than they receive in allowances. As localism, with increased local responsibilities, makes the job more complex and demanding, the workload on a councillor will become greater and the case for appropriate allowances stronger.